For the Record: Japanese Cardinal Makes Landmark Apology For Japanese War Role

For the Record: Japanese Cardinal Makes Landmark Apology For Japanese War Role

Cardinal Shirayanagi Expresses Church Apology on Takayama Anniversary in Manila

►MANILA — (UCAN, Feb. 9, 1995) — During the 1995 Memorial Mass for the Servant of God, Justus Takayama Ukon (1552-1615) at the Chapel of the University of Santo Tomas (U.S.T.) in Manila, Cardinal Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi of Tokyo — the prelate in charge of the Takayama Beatification Process — apologized for the suffering inflicted by Japan during World War II, which he described as the “darkest period” in his country´s modern history.

In his homily Feb. 1, Cardinal Shirayanagi said that Japanese Catholics, “as parties involved in the war, share in the responsibility for more than 20 million (war) victims in Asia and the Pacific.”

Japanese Bishops Ask Forgiveness ‘From God and Our Brothers’

“We, the Catholic bishops of Japan, as Japanese and members of the Catholic Church, sincerely ask forgiveness from God and from our brothers and sisters of Asia and the Pacific for the tragedy brought by Japan during World War II,” said the Cardinal, who was then president of the Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Japan.

The Mass at the University of Santo Tomas commemorated the 380th death anniversary of Lord Justus Takayama Ukon, a Japanese Catholic nobleman who died in exile in Manila on Feb. 3, 1615, as well as the 1945 Battle of Manila (Feb. 3 – March 3, 1945).

Some 100,000 civilians were killed in the month-long battle that began Feb. 3, 1945, in which U.S. forces retook the city from occupying Japanese troops.

This February 3, Manila city officials marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the battle with simple ceremonies at Luneta Park including wreath-laying, photo exhibits and a Mass at which Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila presided.

At centuries-old Santo Tomas, where the Japanese interned thousands of U.S. and other Allied civilians during the war, Cardinal Shirayanagi expressed “determination to keep Japan from committing the same crime again.”

“As the Church of Japan, we renew our commitment to work toward the realization of human liberation and genuine peace in Asia and the Pacific,” he said, adding that Japanese Catholics constantly pray for victims of the war.

Apostolate Among Overseas Filipino Workers in Japan Needed

One way the Japanese Church seeks to mend the damage inflicted against Filipinos by the war, the cardinal said, is through its apostolate with some 500,000 Filipino contract workers in Japan.

Even though Christianity reached Japan in 1549, but Catholics represent a small minority in his country, “only half a million among 120 million Japanese,” Cardinal Shirayanagi noted. It arrived in the Philippines in 1521.

The faith of Japanese Catholics, however, “has been tempered by centuries of relentless persecution … the most notorious in the world,” he added.

Also in his homily, the cardinal expressed gratitude for the “spontaneous response of the Filipino people” after the devastating earthquake in Kobe. This has comforted the victims of the January tragedy, he said, particularly as “this solidarity is offered by people who do not enjoy superfluities.”

Call for “Serious Effort for New Evangelization of Asia”

Cardinal Shirayanagi, who was also in Manila during the visit of Pope John Paul II on Jan. 12-16, reminded Filipino Catholics that the joint task at hand is “a new and serious effort for the evangelization of Asia.”

He cited addiction to worldly goods as the greatest challenge to evangelization today, having produced a “new idolatry.”

The cardinal observed that in Japan, people´s highest aspirations are to have more money, a higher standard of living and more material goods. ◘

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Prayer for Blessed Takayama’s Intercession

The final condition for Ukon Takayama’s canonization is that miracles be obtained through his intercession.

Let us therefore address ourselves to our saintly brother and ask Divine Providence to grant us through his intercessions what is impossible to man, be it a miraculous cure or something else which God Almighty alone is able to do. Let us have great confidence in the powerful intercession of this distinguished Servant of God, who will not fail to reward the heroic deeds in His Service by granting us our request, even if it would call for a great miracle. Favors obtained through Blessed Ukon Takayama’s intercession should be reported to the Bishop of your diocese so as to be presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The following prayer may properly serve the purpose and ought to be addressed to the Lord by as many as possible, whenever human means fail to help us in our needs.

PRAYER

God, in Your Wonderful Providence, You have chosen Justus Ukon Takayama to be a singular promoter of Your Kingdom, and an undaunted witness to the Catholic Faith -- Reward, we beseech you, his zeal for Your Glory, and graciously grant us what we humbly ask through his intervention.

Grant us also that following his example, we may bravely bear all trials for the sake of our holy Catholic Faith. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

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LORD TAKAYAMA JUBILEE FOUNDATION

The LORD TAKAYAMA JUBILEE FOUNDATION was registered on September 29, 1988 by Filipino and Japanese history buffs to support Philippine research into the life and times of the illustrious Japanese feudal governor, Justus Ukon Takayama (1552-1615).